1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to an electronic apparatus for executing close proximity wireless transfer, and a communication state notification method applied to the apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, wireless communication such as NFC has been used in IC cards, mobile phones, and the like. The user can readily make communication for, e.g., authentication processing and charging merely by holding an IC card or mobile phone over a reader/writer module of a host apparatus.
A new close proximity wireless transfer technique which allows communication at higher speed has been developed these days. The new close proximity wireless transfer technique makes it possible to exchange data files such as document data, image data, and audio data between devices as well as authentication and charging services, merely by bringing the devices close to each other.
The time required for wireless communication for, e.g., an authentication processing service is instant (e.g., at most several seconds). However, a period required to transfer data such as a large amount of file using close proximity wireless transfer is relatively long. Depending on the data size of a file, a communication time from several tens of seconds to several minutes may be necessary for transfer of the file.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-17830 discloses a communication processing apparatus which outputs a chime tone from a loudspeaker upon establishment of connection with an external communication processing apparatus via a communication line. The user can readily determine the establishment of connection between the communication processing apparatuses by the chime tone, and efficiently transmit data.
In a close proximity wireless transfer technique, devices must be kept close to each other during communication. If the user accidentally moves one of the devices away from the other device during communication such as transmission of content data, the connection between the devices is released and then the transmission process fails. A communication time required for transmission varies depending on, e.g., the data size of content data to be transmitted or a transmission rate between the devices. To prevent an operation error by the user during communication, it is necessary to appropriately notify the user of the communication state and its switching.